BEIRUT - Lebanon's president took sides Sunday in the country's latest political spat, claiming that the cabinet was no longer legitimate
following the resignation of five Shiite Muslim ministers, including two
representing Hezbollah.

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The resignations left the Shiites, the country's largest single sect, out of the government and deepened the country's political crisis.

President Emile Lahoud's position is a blow to his political rival, Prime
Minister Fuad Saniora, but does not carry legal weight because the Lebanese president is not empowered to dissolve the government.

Lahoud sent a letter to Siniora's office, saying that the 24-member cabinet was no longer constitutional after all five Shiite Muslim ministers submitted their resignations Saturday. He based his position on Article Five of the constitution that states "all sects should be justly represented in the cabinet."

There was no comment from Siniora.

The president's declaration of his position solidifies the political divide in Lebanon between anti- and pro-Syrian forces, with Lahoud and Hezbollah tilting toward Syria and Siniora and his allies opposing their powerful neighbor's influence over their country.

Hezbollah deputy chief: Shi'ites to take to streets in Lebanon
Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies will stage street protests to press their demands after the collapse of all-party talks on giving them more say in government, the movement's deputy leader said on Sunday.

Five Shi'ite Muslim ministers from Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, resigned from the cabinet on Saturday, hours after the collapse of the talks on the pro-Syrian camp's demand for effective veto power in the government.

Asked whether the government would face street protests, Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Kassem said: "I can say that this campaign will be varied and effective. Going down to the streets is one of the important steps that Hezbollah and its allies will take."

"The parliamentary majority camp foiled the dialogue because they don't want wide scale Lebanese participation in government and they want to monopolize decisions in this country," Kassem said.

"This is something that we... can't be witnesses to," he added.

Some anti-Syrian leaders have pledged counter-demonstrations should Hezbollah take the political crisis to the streets, raising fears of confrontations and violence.

"This was a first step. There will be other steps that we will discuss in detail with our allies and which we will announce gradually," Kassem told Reuters by telephone.

He said the all-party talks had failed because anti-Syrian majority leaders had refused to allow others effective participation in running the country.

"This campaign will be there to salvage the country from this mentality," Kassem said.